FOX Renews Simpsons for 2 more years

It looks like the creative juices over at THE SIMPSONS continue to flow . . . The show will stay on until at least 2005 . . . Hard to believe that they started off as short bits on the old TRACEY ULLMAN SHOW back when FOX TV got started . .


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Fox Renews 'The Simpsons' for 2 Seasons

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - Perpetual 10-year-old Bart, his clueless dad Homer and the rest of the Simpsons clan are about to go into TV history as stars of the longest-running sitcom ever.

Fox announced a deal Friday to renew the cartoon for two more seasons, taking it at least through May 2005 - its 16th year. That will push "The Simpsons" past "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet," which aired on ABC from 1952 to 1966, as the all-time longest-running situation comedy.

"The Simpsons" premiered as a series on Dec. 17, 1989, after the animated characters were first introduced in a series of vignettes on Fox's "The Tracey Ullman Show" in 1988.

"Isn't that extraordinary?" said Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman. "It says something about the quality control on a show that seems to be able to garner a new generation of fans every few years while still maintaining the core audience."


Al Jean, one of the show's executive producers, said he can't wait for the show to hit its 16th year. "At that point we'll be old enough to drive," he said.

While following the lives of the mythical family from Springfield, "The Simpsons" has always been bitingly funny about the world around it. Sometimes the show has to be watched twice to grab all the subtle jokes that come flying by.

This Sunday, Homer and the gang poke fun at a different Ozzy in an episode that has the Simpsons family participating in a reality TV show.

"It's a very well-written show - sharp and satirical," said Tim Brooks, television historian and author of "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable Television Shows.""It started off as the Bart Simpson show and it has gone off in a lot of different directions. It continues to mock the culture and has a very loyal audience."

It avoids the pitfalls of many comedies that seem trapped in the time they started, he said.

As cartoon characters, Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa never grow old and, unlike live actors, can't hold out for more money (although there was a contract dispute a few years ago with the people who provided their voices).

There were no such problems this time. Few people were even aware of renewal negotiations.

"There was a general sense in the creative part of the group that things were chugging along creatively," Berman said. "You don't have the drama that you've had with other programs."

"The Simpsons" is produced by Fox corporate cousin 20th Century Fox. Creator Matt Groening, James L. Brooks and Jean are the show's executive producers.

The show is averaging 14.3 million viewers this season, according to Nielsen Media Research. Of the top 20 scripted shows from last season, "The Simpsons" is one of only three with more viewers this season. And it's up for its first Golden Globe Award this weekend.

Jean, who started writing for the show in its first year, said there was never any intent to make the characters age. "As they didn't, it just seemed all the wiser," he said.

"The Simpsons" has to beat "Gunsmoke," on CBS from 1955 to 1975, to become the longest-running scripted show ever in prime time.

The record for the longest-running prime-time show of any kind seems safe. It's "60 Minutes," which went on the air in 1968 and is still ticking.

 

great show, and while it has lost something over the years, it is still better than most things on TV and deserves to be on the air. The only surprise is that it hasn't been taken into re runs over on FX...but , that might be a wise choice.

 

Matt Groening (creator of SIMPSONS) would be pissed about that . . . How much money do you think he's made off the syndication of the show? When FOX takes one of its shows (i.e. MASH, NYPD BLUE, etc. ) and puts it one of its networks, it doesn't have to pay syndication fees. I think folks from both of these shows, and others, have sued 20th Century Fox over the last couple of years because of this (actors get a cut of the syndication money)

 

Simpsons gives Fox affiliates something to anchor with. That, the news, and Friends reruns, it seems, are what get it done, and save the news, I tend to watch what they have on before primetime more than anyone else's programming. I was burned out on Seinfeld reruns by the time the show stopped.